Maquoketa’s Izzy Hardin beats the big-school competition at the Cedar Rapids Invitational

CEDAR RAPIDS — As far as competition goes, Izzy Hardin probably won’t see better all season, until the state meet.

“I was excited to see how I’d do today,” said Hardin, a senior at Maquoketa High School. “Mostly we run at smaller meets, so it was nice to run against competition like this — bigger schools, better athletes.”

Hardin stacked up just fine.

In a field that contained four of the top 10 runners in Class 4A, Hardin (the fifth-place finisher in 3A last year) beat them all. She got out in front immediately and won the girls’ individual title at the Cedar Rapids Invitational cross country meet Thursday at Seminole Valley Park.

Her time: 18:08. Her margin of victory: 18 seconds.

“I like to get out fast, avoid getting boxed in and get a good position from the start,” said Hardin, who owned a 22-second lead at the 2-mile mark and was never threatened.

Led by a 3-7 finish from Evelyn Moeller and Kiersten Swart, 3A second-ranked Mount Vernon-Lisbon was the girls’ runner-up. Ankeny Centennial (No. 4 in 4A) led the 18-team field with 40 points, then it was the Mustangs with 97.

Moeller was clocked in 18:30; Swart in 19:19.

Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Mia Deegan was sixth; Center Point-Urbana’s Aaliyah Causey finished ninth.

The boys’ team race was a three-team affair, with Pleasant Valley (55) edging Bettendorf (57) and Cedar Rapids Kennedy (65).

Those teams combined for 11 of the top 15 runners, led by Bettendorf’s A.J. Willey (15:08).

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Kennedy seniors Slader Buckheister and Adam Gray were second and fourth, in 15:25 and 15:38, respectively.

“Willey took it out pretty hard, and the heat gets to me a little, I guess,” Buckheister said.

“I’m really happy, though: I was 3 seconds faster than I was Saturday at Linn-Mar, and that’s a fast course, and it was 82 degrees today.”

Buckheister was fourth at the state meet last year; Gray was 12th.

This was Gray’s first competitive race since April 12. He had been recovering from a stress fracture in his tibia.

“I can’t wait to have him back in top shape,” Buckheister said. “We were kind of switching off, drafting off each other, similar to track.

“When he’s in top shape, he might be dragging me along.”

Led by Sawyer Feldman (ninth place), Mount Vernon-Lisbon’s boys placed fourth.

Girls Results

TEAMS

1. Ankeny Centennial 40, 2. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 97, 3. Davenport Central 133, 4. Clinton 143, 5. Pleasant Valley 153, 6. Iowa City West 173, 7. Center Point-Urbana 179, 8. C.R. Xavier 198, 9. Dubuque Wahlert 219, 10. North Scott 254, 11. Muscatine 285, 12. Bettendorf 286, 13. C.R. Prairie 341, 14. Central DeWitt 374, 15. C.R. Kennedy 396, 16. C.R. Washington 403, 17. Davenport North 427, 18. C.R. Jefferson 485.

INDIVIDUALS

1. Izzy Hardin (Maquoketa), 18:08; 2. Joley Sullivan (Dav Central), 18:26; 3. Evelyn Moeller (MV-L), 18:30; 4. Ellie Blevins (Centennial), 19:04; 5. Rebecca Flick (Centennial), 19:15; 6. Mia Deegan (Xavier), 18:17; 7. Kiersten Swart (MV-L), 19:19; 8. Lucy Murphy (Wahlert), 19:27; 9. Aaliyah Causey (CPU), 19:37; 10. Trinity Klingensmith (Centennial), 19:38.

Boys Results

TEAMS

1. Pleasant Valley 55, 2. Bettendorf 57, 3. C.R. Kennedy 65, 4. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 104, 5. Davenport Central 111, 6. Central DeWitt 139, 7. C.R. Prairie 189, 8. Muscatine 267, 9. Waterloo West 280, 10. North Scott 284, 11. C.R. Xavier 349, 12. Davenport North 353, 13. Center Point-Urbana 380, 14. C.R. Washington 389, 15. Clinton 392, 16. C.R. Jefferson 396, 17. Maquoketa 523.

INDIVIDUALS

1. A.J. Willey (Bettendorf), 15:08; 2. Slader Buckheister (Kennedy), 15:25; 3. Andrew Heden (Bettendorf), 15:27; 4. Adam Gray (Kennedy), 15:38; 5. Kyle Olson (Cent DeWitt), 15:47; 6. Kamran Foad (PV), 15:57; 7. Zack Ryan (Dav Central), 15:58; 8. Joe Knepp (PV), 16:04; 9. Sawyer Feldman (MV-L), 16:05; 10. Adam Wilke (Cent DeWitt), 16:14.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com